Top of Mind

Welcome to How’s the Market, our weekly look at what’s happening in the US housing market, powered by data from Altos Research.

If you want to see all the inventory, pricing, and supply and demand charts we reference in the show, head on over to our YouTube channel at https://youtube.com/altosresearch.

Enjoy the data!

Hosted by Mike Simonsen, President of Altos Research

A true data geek, Mike founded Altos Research in 2006 to bring data and insight on the U.S. housing market to those who need it most. Altos provides national and local real estate data to financial institutions, real estate professionals, and investors across the country, and the company is now part of HW Media, publisher of HousingWire and RealTrends. Mike uses Altos data to identify trends in the real estate market well before the headlines, and his work has been featured in the New York Times, The Atlantic, Fortune, Forbes and other publications.

This week we are bringing something a little different to your Top of Mind feed, a crossover with our new show: House of Data. This brand new Altos Research x HW Media show explores how data is influencing decisions at the most ambitious companies in housing.

Enjoy!

Listen on Apple Podcasts

Listen on Spotify

Listen on HousingWire

My first guest on House of Data is Zach Ronstadt. Zach is the VP of Strategic Operations at Meritage Homes and has spent the last 15 years creating a data and research team called Strategic Operations that supports their regional leaders with insights and data to make better decisions.

Zach and I talk about building trust as a data team with decision makers and what that process looks like over time, developing the ability to influence decisions without being the decision maker, how to be effective in a data role, and what data has told Zach about evolving consumer preferences in new homes.

Related to this episode:

• Zach’s LinkedIn
• Meritage Homes

House of Data explores how data is influencing decisions at the most ambitious companies in housing. Each episode dives into how housing market participants are ingesting, organizing, and making decisions using data, and the competitive advantages that follow.

Welcome to How’s the Market, our weekly look at what’s happening in the US housing market, powered by data from Altos Research.

If you want to see all the inventory, pricing, and supply and demand charts we reference in the show, head on over to our YouTube channel at https://youtube.com/altosresearch.

Enjoy the data!

Hosted by Mike Simonsen, President of Altos Research

A true data geek, Mike founded Altos Research in 2006 to bring data and insight on the U.S. housing market to those who need it most. Altos provides national and local real estate data to financial institutions, real estate professionals, and investors across the country, and the company is now part of HW Media, publisher of HousingWire and RealTrends. Mike uses Altos data to identify trends in the real estate market well before the headlines, and his work has been featured in the New York Times, The Atlantic, Fortune, Forbes and other publications.

Welcome to How’s the Market, our weekly look at what’s happening in the US housing market, powered by data from Altos Research.

If you want to see all the inventory, pricing, and supply and demand charts we reference in the show, head on over to our YouTube channel at https://youtube.com/altosresearch.

Enjoy the data!

Hosted by Mike Simonsen, President of Altos Research

A true data geek, Mike founded Altos Research in 2006 to bring data and insight on the U.S. housing market to those who need it most. Altos provides national and local real estate data to financial institutions, real estate professionals, and investors across the country, and the company is now part of HW Media, publisher of HousingWire and RealTrends. Mike uses Altos data to identify trends in the real estate market well before the headlines, and his work has been featured in the New York Times, The Atlantic, Fortune, Forbes and other publications.

In this episode of the Top of Mind podcast, Mike Simonsen sits down with Doug Brien, CEO and co-founder of Mynd, to talk about innovation and opportunities in real estate investing. Doug discusses why current cash flow trends bode well for next year, shares the most important stat for investors to pay attention to right now, and explains why he thinks the American Dream of home ownership is not dying, but evolving. Doug also shares insights and stories about real estate investing, entrepreneurship, and life from his new book, “The Big Long.”

About Doug Brien

Doug Brien is the CEO and co-founder of Mynd, the company on a mission to make real estate investing more accessible by leveraging technology to unlock remote investing at scale. Powered by a proprietary all-in-one platform, Mynd streamlines the entire investment journey. Ranging from first-time individual investors to seasoned institutional investors, Mynd empowers more Americans to build wealth through the single-family rental sector.   A former Super Bowl-winning NFL placekicker, Brien got his start in real estate following the collapse of the housing market in early 2009, when he and Colin Wiel founded Waypoint Homes and began buying single-family homes to renovate and rent out. Together, they scaled up their company in an industry that had been the domain of smaller players, building a $3 billion portfolio with over 17,000 single-family rental homes.   In 2016, the duo went on to launch Mynd, leveraging their SFR expertise and technology to empower a new generation of real estate investors. Today, Mynd manages over 17,600 units in 26 markets across the country and expects to manage 20,000 homes by the end of 2023.   Doug Brien holds a B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley and an MBA from Tulane University. Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn: 

• Why even with the market slowdown and higher interest rates, some investors are still gaining profitability
• Why current cash flow trends bode well for next year
• The most important stat for investors to pay attention to right now
• Why Americans are investing in the Smile Belt
• How the iPhone helped fuel the creation of the single-family rental industry
• Why he’s bullish on appreciation and on rent growth
• What the post-zero-interest-rate era looks like for real estate investors
• The math on why real estate investors prevent home price crash catastrophe
• Why we have a shortage of single-family rental homes (just like we have a shortage of homes to purchase), and what that means for homebuilders

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Connect with Doug on LinkedIn
• Mynd
• Mike Simonsen on LinkedIn
• Altos Research

Featuring Mike Simonsen, President of Altos Research

A true data geek, Mike founded Altos Research in 2006 to bring data and insight on the U.S. housing market to those who need it most. The company now serves the largest Wall Street investment firms, banks, and tens of thousands of real estate professionals around the country. Mike's insights on the market have been featured in Forbes, New York Times, Bloomberg, Dallas Morning News, Seattle PI, and many other national media outlets.

Follow us on Twitter for more data analysis and insights:

• Altos on Twitter
• Mike on Twitter

About Altos Research

The Top of Mind Podcast is produced by Altos Research.

Each week, Altos tracks every home for sale in the country - all the pricing, and all the changes in pricing - and synthesizes those analytics to make them available before becoming visible through traditional channels.

Schedule a demo to see Altos in action. You can also get a copy of our free eBook: How To Use Market Data to Build Your Real Estate Business.

Welcome to How’s the Market, our weekly look at what’s happening in the US housing market, powered by data from Altos Research.

If you want to see all the inventory, pricing, and supply and demand charts we reference in the show, head on over to our YouTube channel at https://youtube.com/altosresearch.

Enjoy the data!

Hosted by Mike Simonsen, President of Altos Research

A true data geek, Mike founded Altos Research in 2006 to bring data and insight on the U.S. housing market to those who need it most. Altos provides national and local real estate data to financial institutions, real estate professionals, and investors across the country, and the company is now part of HW Media, publisher of HousingWire and RealTrends. Mike uses Altos data to identify trends in the real estate market well before the headlines, and his work has been featured in the New York Times, The Atlantic, Fortune, Forbes and other publications.

Welcome to How’s the Market, our weekly look at what’s happening in the US housing market, powered by data from Altos Research.

If you want to see all the inventory, pricing, and supply and demand charts we reference in the show, head on over to our YouTube channel at https://youtube.com/altosresearch.

Enjoy the data!

Hosted by Mike Simonsen, President of Altos Research

A true data geek, Mike founded Altos Research in 2006 to bring data and insight on the U.S. housing market to those who need it most. Altos provides national and local real estate data to financial institutions, real estate professionals, and investors across the country, and the company is now part of HW Media, publisher of HousingWire and RealTrends. Mike uses Altos data to identify trends in the real estate market well before the headlines, and his work has been featured in the New York Times, The Atlantic, Fortune, Forbes and other publications.

In this episode of the Top of Mind podcast, Mike Simonsen sits down with Robert Dietz, Chief Economist and Senior Vice President for Economics and Housing Policy for the National Association of Home Builders, to talk about the state of new home construction across the country. Robert shares NAHB’s forecast for mortgage rates, does the math on how many homes we need to build each year, and looks at which cities are doing new home construction well. He also discusses some optimistic trends for home construction and affordability.

About Robert Dietz

Dr. Robert Dietz is Chief Economist and Senior Vice President for Economics and Housing Policy for the National Association of Home Builders, where his responsibilities include housing market analysis, economic forecasting and industry surveys, and housing policy research. He has published academic research on the benefits of homeownership, federal tax policy, and other housing issues, and has testified before Congress on real estate policy issues.   He is often cited on housing and economic issues in the Wall Street Journal, CNBC, and other media sources. Prior to joining NAHB in 2005, Robert worked as an economist for the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation, where he was the committee’s real estate expert. He is a native of Dayton, Ohio and earned a Ph.D. in Economics from the Ohio State University. Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn: 

• What NAHB forecasts for mortgage rates, what he expects from the Fed and what that means for the economy and mortgage rates
• How to do the math on how many new homes we need to build each year
• Why new home builders are much more critical to housing in the US now than they’ve ever been
• When new home construction volume will get back to “normal” levels - How big national builders are different from small local builders in terms of impact for housing
• Which cities are doing new construction well/smart
• Why we’re underbuilding entry-level homes and why that looks to get worse
• Which exciting technologies are emerging for home building
• One way the Biden administration could instantly make home building more affordable
• Why he sees optimistic trends for home construction and affordability from policymakers around the country

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Connect with Robert on LinkedIn
• National Association of Home Builders
• Mike Simonsen on LinkedIn
• Altos Research

Featuring Mike Simonsen, President of Altos Research

A true data geek, Mike founded Altos Research in 2006 to bring data and insight on the U.S. housing market to those who need it most. The company now serves the largest Wall Street investment firms, banks, and tens of thousands of real estate professionals around the country. Mike's insights on the market have been featured in Forbes, New York Times, Bloomberg, Dallas Morning News, Seattle PI, and many other national media outlets.

Follow us on Twitter for more data analysis and insights:

• Altos on Twitter
• Mike on Twitter

About Altos Research

The Top of Mind Podcast is produced by Altos Research.

Each week, Altos tracks every home for sale in the country - all the pricing, and all the changes in pricing - and synthesizes those analytics to make them available before becoming visible through traditional channels.

Schedule a demo to see Altos in action. You can also get a copy of our free eBook: How To Use Market Data to Build Your Real Estate Business.

Welcome to How’s the Market, our weekly look at what’s happening in the US housing market, powered by data from Altos Research.

If you want to see all the inventory, pricing, and supply and demand charts we reference in the show, head on over to our YouTube channel at https://youtube.com/altosresearch.

Enjoy the data!

Hosted by Mike Simonsen, President of Altos Research

A true data geek, Mike founded Altos Research in 2006 to bring data and insight on the U.S. housing market to those who need it most. Altos provides national and local real estate data to financial institutions, real estate professionals, and investors across the country, and the company is now part of HW Media, publisher of HousingWire and RealTrends. Mike uses Altos data to identify trends in the real estate market well before the headlines, and his work has been featured in the New York Times, The Atlantic, Fortune, Forbes and other publications.

Welcome to How’s the Market, our weekly look at what’s happening in the US housing market, powered by data from Altos Research.

If you want to see all the inventory, pricing, and supply and demand charts we reference in the show, head on over to our YouTube channel at https://youtube.com/altosresearch.

Enjoy the data!

Hosted by Mike Simonsen, President of Altos Research

A true data geek, Mike founded Altos Research in 2006 to bring data and insight on the U.S. housing market to those who need it most. Altos provides national and local real estate data to financial institutions, real estate professionals, and investors across the country, and the company is now part of HW Media, publisher of HousingWire and RealTrends. Mike uses Altos data to identify trends in the real estate market well before the headlines, and his work has been featured in the New York Times, The Atlantic, Fortune, Forbes and other publications.